Local Holocaust survivor Israel Izzy’ Geller dies at 89

A memorial service is planned for 10 a.m. Sunday at Stanetsky Memorial Chapels at 475 Washington Street in Canton. All donations made in his memory will be sent to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

By Benjamin Paulin

The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA

By Benjamin Paulin

Posted Nov. 9, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Nov 9, 2013 at 9:02 AM

By Benjamin Paulin

Posted Nov. 9, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Nov 9, 2013 at 9:02 AM

CANTON

» Social News

Marilyn Geller knew the first time she met her husband of 56 years at a dance in Brookline that they were meant to be together. To her, it was fate, and in many ways it was.

“It was a match. Because, once, I had my fortune told that I was going to meet a man who had brown hair and brown eyes and come from foreign water,” Geller, 81, said.

Israel “Izzy” Geller, who died Friday at 89, did have brown hair and brown eyes and the foreign land he came from was Poland, where he was imprisoned in five concentration camps during the Holocaust.

Geller was just 14 when Nazi soldiers occupied his hometown of Pabianice, Poland, in 1939 during World War II.

During his imprisonment he witnessed men being hanged for trying to smuggle food to starving Jews. He saw strewn dead bodies, people starved and worked to death on ghetto streets. He saw the grass at Auschwitz turned white with human ashes.

His entire family – parents and siblings – was killed during the Holocaust.

In the spring of 1945, Geller was on a train with 3,000 Jewish prisoners who were supposedly on their way to be executed in Austria when U.S. Air Force troops attacked and destroyed the train’s engine. Geller and the others on the train were liberated and freed.

In May 1949, Geller, then 24, arrived at Ellis Island aboard the USS Holbrook. He took a train to Boston, where he found a job as a presser and would eventually meet Marilyn.

“Izzy was quite a dancer and all the girls wanted to dance with him and I never knew what his name was, when he finally asked me to dance,” she said. “He called me up on a Saturday and we went out for dinner. And then I called him on Sunday and asked if he wanted lunch and I’ve been cooking for him ever since.”

The couple have two children, Gayle Sesserman, 55, of Easton and Steven, 48, of Bridgewater. They have five grandchildren Samantha, Anthony, Dominic, Nicholas and Michelle.

“He was a fighter but now it’s time for him to go and be at peace,” Sesserman said.

She said some of her fondest memories of her father were when they would go on long walks together, something he loved to do.

“Up until about three months ago he would walk about 3 miles every day,” said Canton Police Chief Kenneth Berkowitz.

After retiring, Geller, who lived in Canton, worked as a crossing guard for the town for 10 years. He would also travel to local temples, schools and colleges telling his story.

“Izzy was one of the most incredible people I have ever met; tenacious and tough, yet, full of life and positive energy. He definitely left his mark on many people in Canton, especially his colleagues at the Canton Police Department,” Berkowitz said.

Page 2 of 2 - Sesserman said her dad cherished every moment he had with his family.

“Family was very important because all of his family had perished in the camp,” she said. “He always led the family at the holiday functions. It was very important to him.”

Marilyn said the thing she would miss most about her husband is his loving attitude.

“The love of him, just the love of him. He was not a very big, robust man. He was only 5-2, he was a little skinny Minnie,” she said. “For a little guy, he was a giant.”

A memorial service is planned for 10 a.m. Sunday at Stanetsky Memorial Chapels at 475 Washington Street in Canton. All donations made in his memory will be sent to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.